Fleeing suspect caught in middle school hallway
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

Valley View Middle School became the site of a police arrest last Friday as students were inside attending class.

Christian Ingersoll, 32, was apprehended by the Simi Valley Police Department at 11:03 a.m. in the middle of the school's campus after Ingersoll ran from his vehicle following a routine traffic stop on Tapo Street.

According to police, after scampering through the school's quad area, Ingersoll turned a corner and ran past two buildings before he was apprehended by officers in a sixth-grade hallway on the west end of the campus.

Ingersoll, a resident of Simi Valley, was Tased during the struggle but did not suffer any injuries.

One responding officer received a minor cut on a hand and was treated at Simi Valley Hospital and released.

Valley View Assistant Principal Dan Hill said some students witnessed the incident on their way to fourth-period class, but he couldn't say how many.

"He wasn't on campus long. The police had a handle on it very quickly," Hill said.

The school went into lockdown mode for about 40 minutes, Hill said, and all classroom doors were locked. By the time an announcement was made over the speakers, the suspect was already handcuffed. Ingersoll was on his way to the Ventura County Main Jail before lunch started at 11:55 a.m.

"This is a very unusual circumstance," said Simi Police Sgt. Adam Darough.

According to Hill and Darough, students or faculty were never threatened.

Darough surmised that Ingersoll, who had a warrant out for his arrest, fled the scene when he figured out he would be going to jail.

Ingersoll was charged with battery with injury on a peace officer, resisting arrest, escape while misdemeanor charges were pending and driving with a suspended license for a prior DUI conviction.

He is scheduled to make an appearance at the Ventura County Superior Court next Friday, Feb. 15 at 1:30 p.m.

"The students were calm. Most of them probably didn't see anything," Hill said. "He was cuffed by the time I got there.

" The kids did what they were supposed to do; the adults did what they were supposed to do. It went well," he said.